By MEGAN LACEY in Rotorua Dejae Galvin has grown up around pitbull terriers without so much as a scratch.

But it was a corgi that bit him, leaving him with a suspected broken nose.

He was attacked by the "friendly" pet corgi at his friend's house as he attempted to pat it.

The last thing the 8-year-old Ngongotaha Primary School pupil remembers is seeing blood everywhere, being in pain and covering his face to avoid being bitten again.

His mother Lisa Galvin said the dog's owner was beside herself and took the injured boy to his grandmother, a neighbour, who took him to the doctor with bites to his face and a suspected broken nose.

Ms Galvin said his skin was pulled together with butterfly clips to close holes on each side of his nose.

When he awoke the following morning his face was swollen and he had black eyes.

"He looked like he had been in a car accident or something."

When she took him back to the doctor he was given strong antibiotics and told if he did not improve he would need to be hospitalised and go on an IV drip. If Dejae's nose is broken he will have to wait for the swelling to go down before it can be operated on. Dejae qualified for the Waikato children's athletics championships shotput event at the weekend and is disappointed the injury may prevent him from participating.

His older brother Shalem also qualified for the shotput and discus events.

Ms Galvin, who has owned pitbulls for 15 years, said her family did not want the corgi to be put down if it was not normally hostile.

"Dogs can attack for a number of reasons.

"It could have just been a territory thing but I think this particular dog should be tested for being aggressive.

"I just want to make sure it doesn't go on to attack other kids if it's proven to be temperamental."

Ms Galvin said the attack was further proof that all dogs, however loving and loyal they might seem, needed to be treated with caution.

"My kids were born into a family that had American pitbull terriers all their lives. We've never had any problems with our dogs the whole time but we never leave our children unsupervised with any dogs - not even our own."

Ms Galvin said her children were taught about responsible animal ownership and had attended puppy school with the dogs.

"Although Dejae has learnt a lesson the hard way, children will be children and dogs will be dogs.

"It's the adults who need to take the upper hand and teach both parties how to act responsibly."

Dejae loves his new dog Lexus and sympathises with the owner of the corgi.

That was a really great article. I'll obviously never be happy to read about a dog attack, especially on a child, but the reporter did such a great job of covering the story. I especially love the picture with it - just a really good read.